Anti-Americanism by Jean-François Revel(
Book
)6
editions published
in
2003
in
English
and held by
912 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
"After the 9/11 attack on the United States, the brief moment of global sympathy for America soon began giving way to blame.
Angered by these assaults on a nation he knows and admires, the distinguished French intellectual Jean-Francois Revel has
come to America's defense in Anti-Americanism, a book that (paradoxically, given his country's especially vehement attacks
on the U.S. and its policies) spent several weeks late last year on top of France's bestseller list." "Revel sees much anti-Americanism
simply as anticapitalism in disguise on the part of those - in Europe and the rest of the world - who are still committed
to doctrines that, at heart, are illiberal and even totalitarian. In probing the origins of the notion that America is the
source of all evil, he shows how these charges ultimately stem from weakness and envy on the part of those who make them and
are a neurotic effort to find an easy explanation for Europe's own loss of status in the post-war era."--Jacket

The French by Jean-François Revel(
Book
)25
editions published
between
1956
and
1968
in
3
languages
and held by
680 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
French author holds a mirror up to his countrymen and condemns their social, cultural, and political life

Democracy against itself : the future of the democratic impulse by Jean-François Revel(
Book
)31
editions published
between
1979
and
2004
in
4
languages
and held by
616 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
In this remarkable new book - as much a work of political philosophy as a meditation on current affairs - Jean-Francois Revel
provides the first complete account of the startling events that have led to the revival of democracy throughout the world.
Recalling the "euphoria" that swept the democratic countries after the fall of communism, Revel asks whether it was justified,
and he concludes that we came much closer to losing the Cold War than many believe. Indeed, communism fell despite the weakness
of the democratic front and the cynicism, self-hatred, and romantic illusions about revolution that have pervaded the Western
elites in recent decades. In fascinating detail, Revel masterfully recreates the final phase of the Cold War and argues that
the movement to end communism was not a revolution in the ordinary sense, but a reaction against revolution which paved the
way for an acceptance of democracy as the only form of government that works. For while admittedly imperfect, democracy is
still the only self-correcting system, while totalitarian societies are always forced to the catastrophic end of their own
logic. Yet despite this worldwide rejection of utopian illusions, the victory of democracy is by no means historically inevitable.
Vigorous alternatives remain, particularly in the Third World, where Islamic fundamentalism offers perhaps the most serious
contemporary challenge to democratic values. In order to ensure its success, Revel argues, we must identify our interests
with the flourishing of democratic principles. Thus, our foreign aid must place political reforms ahead of economic development,
and we must establish a right to intervene in the internal affairs of nondemocratic regimes, respecting only those that are
rooted in popular sovereignty. But even under democratic governments, we are unlikely ever to construct a world that is much
better than ourselves. That is why the deepest challenge to democracy is a moral and political challenge from within. "Democracy
allows free men to be born," Revel concludes, "but only free men allow democracy to last."

Last exit to Utopia : the survival of socialism in a post-Soviet era by Jean-François Revel(
Book
)24
editions published
between
2000
and
2009
in
4
languages
and held by
382 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
An English translation of Jean-Francois Revel's 1999 essay in which he examines the response of French intellectuals to the
collapse of Soviet communism in the decade after its end

L'obsession anti-américaine : son fonctionnement, ses causes, ses inconséquences by Jean-François Revel(
Book
)24
editions published
between
2002
and
2007
in
3
languages
and held by
347 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
Examines the origins of the contradictory attitudes people from other countries hold toward the United States, and distinguishes
between disapproval of American policies and general distaste for great power politics